Luiz Ninos (right) hops off the base of a sculpture where he and Efren Gomez (left) both of Guatemala had been taking in the view from a sculpture on a patch of land at the south end of Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday August 6, 2010. A proposal for two bocce ball courts to be built on a patch of land between Steuart Street and The Embarcadero at Justin Herman Plaza has been approved but critics are upset city officials didn't entertain other uses for the space before passing the proposal.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

Luiz Ninos (right) hops off the base of a sculpture where he and...

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People nap along the perimeter of a patch of land at the south end of Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday August 6, 2010. A proposal for two bocce ball courts to be built on a patch of land between Steuart Street and The Embarcadero at Justin Herman Plaza has been approved but critics are upset city officials didn't entertain other uses for the space before passing the proposal.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

People nap along the perimeter of a patch of land at the south end...

Image 3 of 4

Duygu Takar (right) of San Francisco reads while sitting on the perimeter of a patch of land at the south end of Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday August 6, 2010. A proposal for two bocce ball courts to be built on a patch of land bDuygu Takar (right) of San Francisco reads while sitting on the perimeter of a patch of land at the south end of Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday August 6, 2010. A proposal for two bocce ball courts to be built on a patch of land between Steuart Street and The Embarcadero at Justin Herman Plaza has been approved but critics are upset city officials didn't entertain other uses for the space before passing the proposal.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

Duygu Takar (right) of San Francisco reads while sitting on the...

Image 4 of 4

A patch of land at the south end of Justin Herman Plaza is seen in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday August 6, 2010. A proposal for two bocce ball courts to be built on a patch of land between Steuart Street and The Embarcadero at Justin Herman Plaza has been approved but critics are upset city officials didn't entertain other uses for the space before passing the proposal.

Building owners and businesses near San Francisco's bustling Embarcadero have teamed up with a laborers union to donate muscle power and materials in a project to build two bocce ball courts on a patch of lawn favored by homeless people.

Chris Gruwell, a lobbyist whose office sits across the street from the parkland, crafted the deal, and the Recreation and Park Department, chronically short of cash, eagerly accepted the offer.

"I think this is a unique use that addresses some of the problems with an open piece of grass at that location," said Mark Buell, president of the Recreation and Park Commission, which approved the plan Thursday on a 4-1 vote.

But one commissioner and several park activists admonished department staff for failing to include the public's opinion on how it would like to see the space at the south end of Justin Herman Plaza used.

"The process leaves a lot to be desired," said Commissioner Gloria Bonilla, who cast the lone vote in opposition. "It does smack of people with influence and money coming to the table and putting forth this project."

'Supposed to be a fun idea'

The Recreation and Park Department has been exploring ways to help maintain services with reduced city resources. Phil Ginsburg, the agency's director, has been pushing to develop more partnerships with donors or businesses to help make up for a dwindling budget.

Lev Kushner, property manager for the Recreation and Park Department, said Gruwell approached city officials with an offer to create the bocce ball courts for the workers, tourists and residents of the waterfront neighborhood at no cost to taxpayers as a way "to activate this underutilized plaza." The department did not solicit other ideas, he said.

Gruwell, who served as Mayor Gavin Newsom's campaign finance director and as chair of his inaugural committee, lined up architects to work on the project. Another firm offered to supply project management and construction equipment. Salesforce.com will pay the estimated $61,000 to fund labor and materials, and a partnership has been formed with a nonprofit job-training program connected with Laborers Local 261, of which Gruwell is a trustee, to do the work.

Boston Properties, a client of Gruwell's that owns the nearby Embarcadero Center complex, will maintain the oyster shell bocce ball courts in perpetuity.

There will be no charge to use the regulation-size courts, and plans are in the works to make bocce balls available for players who don't have their own. The plaza will remain open to the public and owned by the city.

Gruwell estimated the total value of the project at $200,000.

"It's all been done with good intentions," Gruwell told The Chronicle on Friday. "This is supposed to be a fun idea."

Gruwell said he worked closely with Newsom's point man on homelessness "about the need to find something that will activate this space to encourage folks to come and use this space for more than just a place to sleep at night."

Buell described the bocce ball courts as an innovative way get a more desirable use of the park without relying on law enforcement.

Civic participation

At midmorning Friday, six people - some completely covered by cardboard to keep dry from the chilly drizzle - were asleep on the built-in concrete benches that ring the small park. Overflowing shopping carts were parked nearby.

Newsom spokesman Tony Winnicker said the mayor enthusiastically supports the project, which sits across from the Ferry Building and is edged by two hotels and the One Market office tower.

"We should welcome and encourage this kind of civic participation and contribution," Winnicker said.

David Miles, a longtime skating activist, said he has long pushed for a in-line skating and roller rink on the Embarcadero and wishes he had known that if he came up with a funding plan he'd have a shot at getting it built.

"It deserves a chance just like I think a lot of other ideas deserve to at least be listened to," he said.

The proposed project will be before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday with a resolution to accept the gift. Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, whose district includes Justin Herman Plaza, sponsored the legislation. He said Friday that his support was contingent on neighborhood outreach being done first.

That neighborhood outreach was spearheaded by Gruwell, who secured support from the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association, the head of the residential Golden Gateway residents association, the operator of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, the adjacent historic rail museum and surrounding commercial property owners.

Relying on sponsors

Commissioner David Lee asked what community outreach, if any, was done by Recreation and Park Department staff. Nicole Avril, director of partnerships and resource development, said that she and her staff relied on Gruwell and his group of sponsors.

"They've really got their tentacles into the community and on the pulse of what folks want down there," she said, "and frankly are better equipped than we are to connect with that community."